UNICEF vehicle for Mutur held up in Colombo port

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2002, 19:05 GMT]The vehicle donated by the UNICEF to the North-East Provincial Ministry of Health to conduct mobile medical service in the villages in Mutur east region in Trincomalee district is being held up in the Colombo port for more than five months. "We are unable to get clearance from the authorities concerned to remove the vehicle from the port," said an official of the NEPC Health Ministry Sunday.

"The vehicle is urgently needed to provide emergency medical services to civilians in Mutur east villages, who have been undergoing immense suffering due to lack of proper medical services and transport," the official said Sunday.

Newly born babies and mothers after child births in Mutur east, which is not under the State armed forces, are not provided with proper medical attention in their own villages due to lack of medical institutions and transport facilities, the official added.

"The vehicle donated by the UNICEF to the North-East Provincial Ministry of Health to organise special mobile medical clinics in these village is being held up in the Colombo port. All attempts made by the NEPC health ministry officials to obtain clearance from the authorities to remove the vehicle from Colombo port have proved futile, according to the official.

Meanwhile, medical sources said that a mother bled to death after childbirth without proper medical attention in her village, Muttuchchenai in Mutur last week. One NEPC official lamented, "we are helpless without a vehicle to serve the Mutur east people. If a mobile medical clinic is held regularly in these villages, we could provide proper medical attention to people at their doorsteps and save a lot of lives."